And a day
by Narutoscreed
Summary: Harry, irate after the events of fifth year needs to take to control of his life. Hermione offers him some choices. rated for safety, no lemons. May be strong language, violence, character death is also possible though not likely
1. Chapter 1

And a day

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This isn't a RW/HR matchup therefore I can't be JKR and I know for certain sure I'm not making any money out of this.

A/N:- It's a plot bunny that may not have a second chapter. I know where the story is going I've just got too many other stories to work on. This one demanded to be written though. It's my first attempt at a true romance chapter so I'd like to hear your response to both the plausibility and the quality of the romance. In other words **Please Review****.**

/ Beginning \

After listening to Harrys' diatribe about the 'Old-man', the ministry and the whole wizarding world in general, Hermione looked around the common room to make sure it was as empty as she thought it was. Not that she was really expecting too many people to be up at nearly eleven at night. Wizard folk were like that, late to rise, earlyish to bed. It was a rare Quidditch party that went past ten thirty at night and even then the prefects or Professor McGonagall would break it up shortly after that. Having found themselves alone she turned back to Harry.

Having heard many of his complaints before she'd been thinking about it for a while but really wasn't sure if he'd be open to several of her ideas. Most of them were fairly outlandish and depended on how others were prepared to act towards him, and to be honest she couldn't see those people wanting to give up control of their supposed pawn. That was the word though, the only word that mattered, 'Control'. Harry needed it more than he needed his next breath and yet it was something that her first and best friend had never had. There was one other option that would work and only required two people, both of whom seemed to want the same thing. Up until this point though it had only been a day-dream, or something to aspire to when Harry turned seventeen next year. Now though he was…well she didn't want this to be an act of desperation on his part, she'd prefer him to actually want her so she'd outline all the options that he could use before mentioning her ultimate plan.

"Harry?" she said into the sullen silence left behind as he stared into the smouldering fire. Apparently he hadn't known he wasn't alone as he nearly jumped from the armchair he was slouched in, and she knew for certain he was resecuring his wand in the holster he'd gotten for his birthday. As he turned to face the person disturbing his introspection she could almost swear his eyes were glowing slightly but a blink dispelled the illusion caused by the fire or whatever had caused it.

"Er, yeah Hermione," he answered as calmly as he could as his heart rate slowed down from the near panic he'd been in a moment before. As he calmed his skin began to flush in embarrassment at being caught so unaware, that and wondering just how much of his rant she'd overheard. He certainly hoped that she wasn't here about his latest run in with his jealous prat of a friend, she certainly wouldn't be pleasant to him if that was what she was here about. Not that it was his fault anymore than anything that had happened to him over the last five years. It simply wouldn't matter since as he'd discovered, everything was his fault in the end.

"Could you meet me outside the," she paused to make sure that no one had come down from the dorms, she didn't want to run any chance that someone might overhear or interfere with what she was now planning, "Room of requirement in about twenty minutes?"

"Er, sure. You want to give me a clue what this is about?"

"No. I, I don't want anyone to overhear," she glanced furtively around as if she was expecting half the house to leap out of the shadows and interrupt them.

"Am I going to like it?" he asked nervously. When Hermione got edgy like this it normally meant he wouldn't, or she was planning to break as many rules as she could. For someone who didn't like to challenge authority or break rules she sometimes showed a wanton disregard for them when she felt it necessary.

"I hope so," at her hesitant tone he tried to quell the sceptical look but obviously failed, "No I really do Harry." She squared her shoulders and managed to look him resolutely in the eyes.

"Okay…I'll see you in twenty."

"Yeah." Getting the feeling they'd stand there rehashing their agreement until the rest of the house awoke Hermione smiled at him.

"Right, do you want me to get the room ready?"

"No, I'll take care of it when I get there. Just wait for me okay?"

"Sure," Harry replied. Hermione reached up and hugged him like she'd been wont to do for years before turning away and rushing towards the stairs to the girls dormitory.

What she was planning was rather extreme but she felt it was the best choice and she was prepared to act accordingly since once he agreed it would be impossible to block or break. Not even a full Wizengamot meeting could undo it once she'd accomplished what she had planned and she knew that the headmaster would be trying just as hard as he could. She'd noticed that the man seemed to have plans where Harry was concerned and well…she didn't have proof as such but she felt that too many things seemed to happen to Harry while at Hogwarts. For the supposedly 'safest' place in the United Kingdom too many dangerous things had slipped past the headmaster. It was like he was testing Harry, but again she had no real evidence, just a feeling but she was learning to trust those feelings. She wondered just how much control Albus Dumbledore actually exerted over Harrys' life but one thing she'd noted was that when Harry really needed help he was always alone.

The other body that would attempt to stop any attempt for Harry to gain some control of his life was the ministry. Even after the fact that Fudge had been proven a liar with the appearance of Voldemort in the atrium of the Ministry building. There was yet to be a retraction in the papers about all the slander they'd printed about Harry and the headmaster. Not that she cared what the public thought about Dumbledore. It would prove unwise for Fudge to outright attack Harry but that wouldn't stop the man from using blackmail if he got the chance to have Harry bolster his chances of staying in power.

It took ten minutes to prepare and another minute to grab the small stack of books that she'd need to prove to him what she was talking about. Then she bolted from the dorms towards the room of requirement.

/ Harry \

Leaving the common room a puzzled Harry slowly and carefully made his way to the room of requirement. He was a little worried about his friend because whatever this was about had her extremely concerned. All of the signs had been there, the frown as she thought furiously to make sure that she wasn't missing anything, the worrying of her lower lip that he found quite fascinating. Even her eyes changed with her mood, lightening if she was happy or darkening if she was worried or scared. Whatever had his friend like this had him even more worried because he knew he probably wasn't going to like it. He just hoped that he wasn't going to have to have more words with their red-headed friend for something he'd done.

Walking past the tapestry of Barnabus he found a small alcove and slid partially behind a suit of armour so that if anyone came by they'd have a chance to miss him in the shadows. The only real threat was Mrs Norris. He'd heard there were many ways to skin a cat and with that particular damn cat he was willing to experiment and make sure it was true.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been waiting there, but it was long enough to decide that twenty minutes was just this side of eternity when you were impatient to find out what was going on. His mind was flashing up all kinds of dire situations that he didn't want to examine too closely and wasn't sure he wanted to be there when Hermione confirmed one of them. Bolting was a real option until he saw a shadow approaching from the direction of the Gryffindor common room and shrank deeper into the shadows. Sighing a little as the shortish figure paced back and forth infront of the tapestry he was just stepping out of the alcove when he heard a voice hiss.

"Harry?"

"I'm here," he called back softly as he approached, "So what's this all about?"

"Inside first and then I'll tell you," she held the door and motioned him inside. The room that had been provided for her was small and cosy with a fireplace providing the only light as flames roared up from the logs. In front of the fire were a couple of chairs that wouldn't have been out of place in the common room except they were in better condition and looked more comfortable. The door thunked shut behind him and he turned to see the portal disappear. Apparently she didn't want any chance whatsoever of anyone interrupting them.

"Alright, enough stalling Hermione. What's this all about?"

Hermione walked past him with the books stacked in her arms, she stopped to put them on a table that Harry hadn't noticed because it was in the shadows behind the nearest chair. "Come and take a seat Harry and then I'll tell you what I've been looking into over the summer," she said before watching him stalk over to the seat opposite her and look at her expectantly.

"Where to start? Okay…I heard you earlier as you were venting about Professor Dumbledore and well everything else…"

"Yeah? And?"

"Well, you know I, I trust the teachers? I've always felt that they know what they're doing and what we should be doing. But after last year…" she hesitated not sure how to continue but eventually deciding to dive in and lay all her thoughts on the table, "Well after last year I'm afraid they do know what they're doing. Or at least some of them do and the rest seem to be being kept in the dark. Hold on Harry, I've got to get this out before you ask any questions. Something I'd like to do first is to apologise for my part in last year, I honestly believed that it was for the best at the time…Now? Well now I'm not so sure, so many of the things that happened last year just don't add up. This is supposed to be the safest place in the wizarding world and yet everything that's happened to you lead me to believe that someone is working against you," she paused as Harry snorted derisively, "I don't mean Voldemort Harry. I mean I know he's bad enough, but the things that are slipping through the castles defences simply shouldn't be able to. According to Hogwarts a history the wards here are the most powerful on the planet rivalling even the Goblin wards on Gringotts. Dark creatures or spirits shouldn't be able to get through them and yet just about every year something has gotten through and put you at risk."

"You think I don't remember all that?" Harry interrupted.

"Of course you remember all that Harry. I don't doubt that for a second, the problem is that it doesn't add up. Before you came to Hogwarts the last exciting thing that happened was the Marauders, and before that it was the Chamber of Secrets being opened and killing a student. My point is that things like this don't happen at Hogwarts and yet they have. It's…and I hate to even think this…it's as if someone was letting these things happen. The problem is I can't figure out if they were supposed to be tests of you or whether you weren't supposed to survive…" she trailed off as she saw the stunned look in Harrys' eyes.

Harry sat there trying to take in the enormity of what Hermione had just said. It sounded ludicrous on the surface but when he looked back and put it in perspective there was a ring of truth in what she'd said. Crossed with what he'd learned about the prophecy it sounded even more plausible, though which option was more likely he didn't know at this point. It was true that he, a sixteen year old wizard shouldn't have much chance against a seventy year old dark wizard, given that they were supposedly equal in power. There was a chance that Dumbledore was trying to sacrifice him and he was refusing to play ball with the plans. It seemed unlikely at first glance but something he was wondering about was…if Dumbledore knew Harry would have to face the 'Worst Dark Lord' in centuries, then why hadn't he been given proper training. Had the old man looked at the disparity in skill levels and assumed that Harry could never bridge the gap and so chosen to sacrifice Harry to fulfil the prophecy. Hoping that he could catch Voldemort after he'd despatched Harry and thus fulfilled the prophecy, after all, 'Either must die at the hands of the other.' Had he been manufacturing meetings between Harry and the Dark Lord?

Resolving to share the information he had with Hermione he looked up at his long time friend with harrowed eyes that shocked her.

"My god Harry….What's..?"

"Shhh…I've got something to tell you. Dumbledore told me not to share it with anyone but I think I'm done listening to what he thinks. Your suspicions, well lets just say they make much more sense when you hear the prophecy about me and Voldemort. I don't want to believe it Hermione, but it makes too much sense…"

"I thought the prophecy was destroyed in the ministry?"

"Yeah, well it turns out the prophecy was made in Dumbledore's presence. He's known about it since it was made in 1979.."

"Wasn't it dated 1981?"

"Yeah, but apparently it wasn't a valid prophecy until Voldemort came after my parents. Look, it goes like this," Harry repeated the prophecy to her, "So you see it wasn't an active prophecy until he marked me as his equal?"

"Harry…and did it really say that either he kills you or you kill him?"

"Yeah that's the way I interpreted it. I'm not sure it's as literal as that though. The thing is that if you look at what's happened to me here then maybe you were right and Dumbledore has been trying to see the thing fulfilled. It doesn't matter anymore if it's true or not Hermione, I think it is and I'm not playing that game anymore," he said harshly.

Hermione sucked in a breath at the bitter tone of his voice, for all the years she'd known him he'd never once sounded like this and she was afraid for him if something didn't change. Luckily she had several plans to run past him.

"I reckon this wasn't what you wanted to talk about when you asked me to meet you here. So what…"

"Right….You're right Harry. Though it clears up any doubts I had about my loyalty. I'm here for you Harry. Ever since first year I've been willing to follow you Harry, but now…Now I know if you needed me to walk into hell with you I would. You're my best friend and no ones going to take you away from me," she stated fiercely.

"Er, okay Hermione," he said attempting to placate the emotional witch.

"After the Department of Mysteries and while I was recovering from my injuries I started to think about your situation and came to several conclusions. You've heard some of them, but…Do you know the one thing that you need more than anything else?"

Harry thought about it for a moment before answering, "Yeah. I don't have any control over my life."

"Exactly, you need to control your life. The problem is it's something that you'll never get," she let that sink in, "The only way you can get control is to take it. The people who should be helping you are holding the information you need until it's too late to do you any good."

"Nice way to state the obvious Hermione. Do you have any idea how I can change that?"

"I might have done some research into it over the summer Harry," she smiled cheekily.

"Some research?" he queried.

"Alright, I stripped every law book I could out of Flourish and Blotts and several other bookstores and even sought legal advice from a neutral source without naming any names."

"Did you find anything useful?"

"Well there's surprisingly quite a few ways for you to take control of your life. The problem is that most of them can be blocked if the other people who are interested in keeping you powerless are given any indication of what you plan. The easiest is to be emancipated, for anyone of three reasons. The first and most likely is that you are the last member of an ancient and noble house, followed by the fact that you've been mistreated by you muggle guardians for years and you need to get away. The last is that there's a crazy dark lord coming after you and you need to be able to defend yourself."

Harry snorted at Hermione's attempt at humour, "I get the feeling that you feel that it's unlikely it'll work?"

"Hmm, like I said too many people need to be notified of your attempt to be emancipated for anyone of those reasons. The ones that concern you are Minister Fudge and Albus Dumbledore, who I believe is your magical guardian. Both of them would have to sign off on your emancipation. Dumbledore won't because he doesn't want to lose control of you. I think Fudge wouldn't because he's as corrupt as any politician I've ever heard of anywhere in the world and he'd be hoping you'll die without an heir or last will and testament."

"What good would that do him?"

"If you die without an heir or a will then the ministry has a chance to claim your family vaults for the ministry. Needless to say most of the money wouldn't reach the ministry. He'd probably succeed as well since there are no people related within three removes of the Potter family. Your cousins are too distant and there are no cadet branches to inherit."

"So emancipation is out then?"

"Not really but it's risky and if you can't convince the people you need to then it would make any of the other options you have that much harder."

"Which options?"

"The next option is a license to permit underage magic. Again it's risky depending on how desperate either party believe you to be. The minister might attempt to ring concessions from you such as public support for his campaign to remain in office. Another thing I wouldn't put past him is for him to change the rules after you think you can do magic and thus entrap you. He could then blackmail you much more thoroughly or threaten you with Azkaban. We've seen the kind of things the ministry can do when they think they can get away with it. Dumbledore simply won't want to allow it since it will give you leeway to defend yourself. At the moment you're completely dependant on the 'Order of the Phoenix' for any help and he's not going to want to change that until he doesn't have a choice and I wouldn't put it past him to change the laws where you're concerned.

The final way that I can think of is to seek asylum in a foreign country. I'm sure France would be happy to have you there, and the Delacour family may offer to help you. It's unlikely because I don't think you can escape the 'Order' and get out of the country safely." Having said everything she intended she stopped expectantly while Harry mulled over the information.

"Okay, I can see where you're coming from, and I agree with you. That's without taking into account the fact that Voldemort is still after me. These aren't my only options though are they….I mean I've seen that look on you face before and it means you've got a plan but you're not sure I'll like it, or you know very well I won't like it. You might as well spill it you know," Harry smirked at Hermione's surprised expression.

"Er, y-yes, th-there is another option, and you're right I don't think…"

"Ah, come on Hermione it can't be that bad. Just tell me what it is and then I can tell you what I think."

"Alright, but…"

"No buts 'Mione, let me be the judge of what I will and won't like," he interrupted her again. He was beginning to get frustrated at the normally unflappable witch.

"The only other option I've been able to find is for you to get married," she stopped to let the bombshell sink in.

"You're right I don't like it. It's a crazy idea, I'm not even dating anyone…so you must have someone in mind already."

"Mmm-hmm, there's a reason why it's a good idea. That being that no one, and I mean no one, can stop you as long as one of the people is of age. The second you marry you're considered of age and you'll be in control of your life to whatever extent you want."

"You didn't answer my question. Let's see, of age witches that I know…well Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson are out since they're with the twins, and Alicia Spinnet is out because she's dating their partner Lee Jordan. Cho Chang isn't an option," he shuddered as he remembered his last few interactions with the pretty Asian seeker from Ravenclaw, "I don't think she likes me very much and her choice of friends leaves me cold. I'm not even on first name terms with any of the other witches in year seven…the only other person I know who's seventeen is you and I always thought you and Ron had an understanding,"

Hermione was about to smile when he finally got to her name until what else he'd said about her sank in, "Who told you Ron and I have an understanding?" she demanded.

"Um, well…everyone thinks it's only a matter of time before you stop arguing with each other, and then there's Ron, he told me he's interested last year and well I thought…"

"Let me clarify something for you Harry James Potter, I am not, nor have I ever contemplated dating Ronald Billius Weasley. We argue because he's dense and doesn't see that he needs to study more not just attempt to copy my work, that and the fact that he drags you down to his level. Contrary to popular belief you don't argue incessantly with a person you like unless you've got the emotional maturity of an eleven year old or lower, which now that I come to think of it applies to Ron so you might be right about him. As for me, I'd like to think I'm more mature than that Harry. Put simply there's not really a lot we have in common, he likes Quidditch and its most of his life from what I can see, while I like to read about all kinds of things that I'd like to share with someone intelligent enough to have an opinion. Besides his manners disgust me, he eats like a pig…"

"It doesn't sound like you like Ron much?" Harry asked now thoroughly confused, he'd thought he had this all figured out and now the rules had changed. He'd never felt this nervous before because if he was hearing her right then Hermione, his best female friend, no, no qualifiers, his best friend was proposing that he marry her and he wanted to clarify certain things before he'd risk their friendship.

"To be honest with you Harry, the only thing Ron and I have in common is you. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't tolerate his presence at all. He hasn't been a very good friend to me, and if you're honest you'll admit that he's not been a very good friend to you either. He's jealous of your fame and money and he's abandoned you several times now, and expects an 'I'm sorry' to serve as an apology. He's accused you of using your fame to get preferential treatment, and he's even accused you of being dark when he found out you're a parslemouth. Those aren't good traits in a friend Harry. Friends are supposed to trust each other and accept the things about their friends that they may not like, and as god is my witness I've tried to like Ron for your sake but I can't and I don't trust him either. Another thing friends should do is support each other and forgive the mistakes they make. The simple fact is Harry that Ron is still like that eleven year old child you met on the train, he hasn't grown up at all and he's still selfish enough that he doesn't see the things he does wrong as being wrong."

Harry hated himself when he heard himself when he heard his voice say, "You've made mistakes too Hermione."

"I know, I never said I'm perfect Harry. So why don't you ask me about the one that really sticks out in your mind and I'll see if I can explain it to you now that you're older and seen more of what we're all up against."

"My broom in third year?" it was the worst instance in his memory, or at least Ron's reaction made it seem so which given he was the person they were discussing wasn't too surprising that incident popped to mind.

"Not my finest hour Harry and I did apologise. I don't think anything hurt as bad as knowing I was right and yet you both were giving me the cold shoulder. I don't think ou saw the hate in Ron's eyes when he was yelling at me after Professor McGonagall took the Firebolt from you."

"It was my broom Hermione, you could have talked to me, I would have listened to both of your points and made a decision. You didn't trust me to make the right decision and took it out of my hands when you told the professor," Harry accused her.

"I panicked…the troll in first year didn't scare me as much as that broom did. I thought that you were going to do what any other boy would have done if given a broom like that which was to run outside and try it out. Except we didn't have a clue who sent it to you, it could have been Lucius Malfoy who'd happily sacrifice a thousand galleons on a broom if he could hurt or kill you after what you did to him at the end of second year. He could have tampered with the braking charm so that it didn't work and you'd have run into something at top speed which being nearly two hundred miles an hour would probably kill you. Or it could have been cursed to fly straight up to two thousand feet before the propulsion charms cut out. No cushioning charm would have saved you if you fell from that height. I couldn't take the chance you'd be hurt and I could see how much Ron wanted to try that broom and how much pressure he was going to put on you to do it," Hermione tried to stop her hands from shaking as a sob shook her body. Even as far back as third year she'd known how she felt about the raven haired boy sitting across from her and hoped that one day he could return the feelings she had.

Harry swallowed hard as he watched the firelight reflect off of the tears streaming from Hermione's eyes. He'd suspected it had been something like that at the time but he'd allowed Ron to influence him, maybe she was right and even if Sirius Black had sent it and there was nothing wrong with it there was a chance it could have been malicious. He discovered something else at the same time, and that was that he hated to make Hermione cry. In fact he wanted to go find Ron right now and punch him in the nose for causing her any pain whatsoever. The trouble was that knowing how she felt about Ron he knew that he was personally responsible for the tears. Standing up he took a shaky breath as he extended a hand to Hermione.

"Hermione?" he asked hesitantly.

Hermione looked up to him and saw him holding out his hand. Not knowing what he wanted she reached out and took it, feeling his grasp hold her firmly as he drew her from the chair she'd been seeking shelter in. It was a shock when he drew her into his arms and wrapped them around her, it was the first time he'd ever initiated a hug. Every other hug they'd shared had been due to her, now that he'd done it she froze unsure of what to do.

Harry tightened his hold on Hermione, feeling her small frame feel so right where it was. He'd never noticed how much he'd grown until he felt just how small Hermione felt. Leaning down he whispered into her curls, "I'm sorry 'Mione. Merlin, I'm so sorry…erk!" something he said must have penetrated her thoughts as she wrapped her arms around him and clung desperately. It turned out that she might be small but she was still pretty strong as he discovered when he found it difficult to breath in again since she'd forced the air from his lungs.

"Air, need air 'Mione," he gasped out jokingly and actually chuckled when she jumped in surprise and tried to move away but found he wasn't ready to relinquish his hold on her just yet. Instead he moved them towards his chair before sitting down and drawing her into his lap.

"Lets talk about marriage then," Harry began, "Control of my life isn't a good enough reason to marry 'Mione. I'm not saying no, it's just we need to talk about the why's and wherefores before we do anything so drastic. We haven't even been on a date and we're thinking about moving to the ultimate step in a relationship?" he stopped speaking as Hermione reached up and placed a finger on his lips before snuggling against his chest even closer.

"Doesn't this feel right Harry? I don't need to date you to know everything I need to. I've known you for so long now you know me better than my own parents since I've been keeping things from them so I could stay here and be with you. If they knew some of the things that had happened here over the years they'd have withdrawn me from Hogwarts and I'd neve have seen you again. I would have still studied magic I would have just had my parents hire some tutors to get me over he underage magic restrictions and I'd have been fine. But not without you Harry. I don't know if what I feel is love but I'm more than willing to chance my heart for you. I don't think I've made a mistake. I know you Harry and everything I know about you makes me think that if I don't already love you then it won't take much effort on my part."

"Right so we don't need to date? Well I'm not going to let that stop me from taking you out. Next point…we haven't kissed," he said nnervously. He hadn't had much luck with kissing girls, in fact the only kiss he'd participated in had left the girl in question crying. Not exactly a good track record in his estimation.

"I think we can do something about that," she rejoined as she turned in his arms to face him more fully and tilting her head up. Before their lips met she closed her eyes in anticipation, while Harry closed his in the hopes that he wouldn't see the disappointment in her eyes as he kissed her. It led to him kissing her chin, and to Hermione giggling at the situation. Harry started to move away until Hermione threaded her fingers through his hair holding his head in place, "Lets try that again," she smiled as she reached up again this time watching where she was going, and fascinated when the tip of his tongue flicked out to wet his lips. She hoped he'd do that again when she was in contact with his mouth and wondered where that thought came from. When their lips finally met she revelled in the feeling of his surprisingly soft lips against her own as she pulled him closer and deepened the kiss further.

For a first kiss it was…something so much more than she expected. The depth of emotion she felt was incredible. Nothing she'd ever done could possibly compare, definitely not that peck on the cheek that Viktor Krum had given her in fourth year. The one that Ron had accused her of betraying them over as if it had been the most heinous act she could have committed as opposed to the simple thankyou it had been.

This kiss made the world fade away until minutes after it had ended with both of them reeling for breath. In fact the world could go hang itself as she leaned in for another. This time feeling more comfortable she closed her eyes again as she moved closer, and closer, and surely she should have met him by now? Opening her eyes she found that as she moved closer to his smiling mouth that he was matching her pace as he moved away from her.

"Harrrryy!" she pouted as he chuckled before he moved in and took her lips in another deep kiss that had her reeling even more as she clutched his hair once more. This time she licked her own lips and wasn't complaining when she could tasted him, such a fascinating sensation that she decided to taste him directly and ran her tongue over the crease in his lips. With a groan Harry opened his lips and drew her tongue into his mouth. Everything exploded as her tongue caressed his own and began to sensuously duel with her as he tried to figure out what she tasted of. The closest he came was the smooth sweet taste of treacle tart, warm from the oven, he could swear there were strawberries or cherries as well and cinnamon, combined with the warm smell of her skin and the scent of her apple balsam shampoo he didn't think he ever wanted this kiss to end as he wrapped his free arm around her slender body and attempted to crush her to his chest as his mouth ravaged hers. Neither had any idea how long the kiss lasted as they reluctantly released each other as they gasped for breath.

"Wow…I mean….wow!" Harry panted as he looked into the warm chocolate depths of her eyes. She was going to tease him about his eloquence but couldn't figure out how to make her mouth work at the moment. All she managed was, "Yeah," in agreement.

Feeling that they really needed to continue the discussion Hermione reluctantly offered, "Maybe I should return to my chair?"

Her answer was a growled 'no' as Harry tightened his arms around her.

"Or I could stay right here…" she chuckled, "So that's dating, and kissing, then there's the fact that I know you so well and I'm pretty much sure I'm in love with you. Now more so than before. Is there anything else we need to talk about?"

"We need to figure out where we would live, and what to do about money."

"For the moment we'll live here, and I have a few thousand pounds saved up from presents over the years. That should tide us over for a little while," she smiled at him, if those were the only questions he had left to ask then she was pretty sure he was going to say yes to her suggestion.

"I've got some galleons in my trust vault. Though I'm not sure how much since I haven't seen it since second year. Mrs. Weasley has been getting my supplies for school."

"We'll worry about that latter Harry. Right now all that matters to me is your answer to my suggestion," she watched as he leant back into the comfortable armchair and closed his eyes to think without her distracting him.

Without opening his eyes he spoke, "I can't think of one good reason why we shouldn't…except I'm not sure what love is," he almost whispered, "If what I feel isn't love then I'm afraid it might kill me. I guess I'm willing to take that chance 'Mione. I don't think my life would be worth living without you and I'm sure I couldn't survive without you in it. Yes," he finished simply.

"So now what 'Mione?"

"Well Gryffindors charge right in, right?"

"Yeah. I feel we've done much too much Ravenclawish behaviour to be comfortable so we should return to what we're best at," Harry joked.

Hermione wriggled to be released from his embrace and elicited a groan from him as she came into firm contact with certain points of his anatomy raising a fire of a different sort as she managed to gain her feet and gestured for him to stand opposite her in front of the fire.

"You stand there. What we're going to do is called hand-fasting. I'd prefer to marry you outright but we'd need our guardians permission for that. Hand-fasting on the other hand is legal here in Scotland and equally binding. We can fully formalize the situation when the hand-fasting is over next year. Are you certain Harry?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said firmly without a hint of uncertainty.

"Then take my left had with yours, now my right," tilting her head a little she looked him full in the face, "Look into my eyes Harry," she waited for a moment until she was sure he wasn't going to look away, "and now the vows." Hermione took a deep breath.

"In life, I gi' my body,

In love, my heart,

I thee troth,

In hope, my soul,

For a year and a day."

Their eyes never wavered as Harry repeated the vows without any hesitation, not even the bands of golden light that wrapped their wrists could draw their attention as Hermione stepped closer halving the distance, Harry not knowing if he was stil mirroring her actions stepped in as well trapping their still joined hands between them as he moved to kiss his bride. Unlike the previous kisses this was a short simple kiss as the bonds between them strengthened again before they stepped back and she released his hands.

"Now what?"

"Now husband," Hermione smiled as she reached for the clasp on her robes and shrugged her shoulders allowing the black robe to slide down her body revealing most of her preparations for tonight.

Harry's eyes bulged and he choked as he whirled around. If he was trying to protect her modesty it was probably too late since the image of her standing there gloriously naked was indelibly etched into his mind.

"Harry, you turn around this instant, or I'm going to think you don't like me!"

"B-but you're naked," he protested

"It'd be pretty hard to consummate the marriage if I kept my clothes on Harry. Not impossible you understand just harder than it has to be." Harry agreed with the sentiment, he was pretty downright hard at the moment. He was startled when he felt her arms slide around his body as she embraced him from behind, "Now if you'd care to join me we can stop any chance the headmaster can make to have our marriage annulled," she smiled as she felt his resistance fade away and he turned around and his arms slid around her slowly as if unsure where to touch her.

"Relax Harry you can touch me. In fact I like it," she shivered in his arms in a manner that had nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with the spark of desire that had entered his eyes.

"Er, 'Mione? I've never done this before," he said feeling slightly shamed that he was unsure of himself.

"Neither have I Harry. Like everything else in our lives we'll figure it out as we go," she said before standing on tiptoes and initiating a deep drugging kiss that would lead to many more throughout the night if she had anything to say about it.

/ the end \

A/N:- I'm supposed to be working on other stories but this idea came to me after reading too many implausible situations that lead to different relationships. For any Ron Hermione shppers out there who are revolted by anything other than a cannon pairing I have to ask if you despair for your own relationships since you obviously don't have a clue about what makes a relationship work. The only scenario where HG/RW works in my opinion is where potions have been used or where spousal abuse is evident since Ron says some truly horrible things to Hermione over the years

If you liked this please **REVIEW**, I don't know if there'll be a second chapter to show how Harry starts to assert control in his life but I daresay it'll be influenced by reader response.


	2. Chapter 2

And a day

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: see the fist chapter for cover disclaimer.

A/N:- well it's a bit of a surprise to me because I'll admit I've been in a bit of a funk lately when it comes to writing, but this chapter just seemed to flow right from the start. To give you some idea it hasn't been beta'd at all. It was written in four hours. I'm a slow writer, I could have done it quicker but I like to think my way through things to make sure they gel with what's gone before, or is realistic to the canon. I don't like to make massive AU changes without explaining them. Once more, with feeling _**Please Review**_, it really helps me with getting my arse in literary gear. I hope you enjoy it.

/ Room of Requirement \

Harry remembered waking up many different ways in his life. He'd woken scared, hungry and thirsty, more tired than he was when he'd gone to bed. He'd woken black and blue from one of his uncles punishments, locked in the cupboard under the stairs. Hell he'd woken up in circumstances no one would believe of an old man who'd spent his life in pursuit of adventure let alone a sixteen year old not even out of school. Things like waking up in a hospital bed three days after the wraith of his parents murderer had flown through his chest taking all of his energy with it at the culmination of his first year, or the fact that his second year was like something out of Cluedo. The man who killed the spectre of Voldemort and a thousand year old basilisk was none other than…Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets with the Sword of Gryffindor, the Sorting Hat and a Phoenix.

Thinking about it for a moment he had to suppress the urge to laugh himself silly, the urge didn't last for long though, not when he followed the thoughts a little further. Hermione had been right, taken at face value they had just been adventures right, no harm no foul and all that. On the other hand a suspicious person might question the timing of everything, like how in first year, Dumbledore just happened to leave the castle at the most inopportune moment, or that the people he'd left to safeguard the Stone hadn't even batted an eyelid when three children figured out their big secret. You'd have thought two eleven year olds and a twelve year old figuring out so much of the defences for their 'Precious' treasure might have had more impact, say like someone getting off their duff and checking said defences. They might have spotted the fact that Quirinus Quirell had gone through them like a hot knife through butter. They might not have done anything about it but then we three kids might have left well enough alone instead of putting ourselves in danger. The last thing that piqued my interest in all that was the fact that Dumbledore managed to turn up just as Harry was collapsing? If he was suspicious person he'd have to wonder, what timing the man had. Gone in time to give quirrellmort and opportunity to steal the stone and back in time to clean up the mess?

Now that he had the seed of doubt planted firmly within his mind he was reassessing the previous years with a clearer sight than ever before. Some might call him unlucky to have had such adventures, others might say he was lucky to have survived. Harry was coming to a different conclusion, once was unlucky, twice might be coincidence, but five years in a row? That had to be enemy action. The problem was figuring out who the enemy was, other than Voldemort and his Death Eaters that is. He was pretty sure the Ministry was out to get him, or at least certain parts of it were. He could name members of the staff here who were definitely out to get him and others who had left things to happen as they would, that should have acted especially as they had the authority to act. Things were happening in Hogwarts that any right thinking person would have nipped in the bud years ago, and yet things were only getting worse. Malfoy blatantly pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable, in front of staff no less and nothing was done to curb him. Yet anytime Harry reacted in a manner that Draco deserved the staff couldn't wait to jump all over him, and so each time the ferret could go that little bit further in his persecution of the other houses without any fear of repercussions.

The headmaster of the school was a special case as far as Harry was concerned, it could just be that the old man was going senile or was suffering from some other disease that afflicted the aged and infirm. He doubted it was a case of incompetence though as the man had proven to be an astute politician and a powerful wizard. Though certain things seemed to have slipped past him in the past few years. Everyone said how powerful he was both magically and politically and yet he'd allowed a weak man like Cornelius Fudge to run all over the rights of people like Rubeus Hagrid even watching as the half-giant was sent to Azkaban? Harry wasn't sure what was going on but with every year that passed, with every 'accident' or 'adventure' Harry was subjected to it seemed things were getting worse and more complicated. He was getting confused with how convoluted things were getting and he knew that most of that was because he didn't have all the information he needed. He already knew that the old man was keeping a lot of information from him and even after promising to be more forthcoming in future. Then he'd promptly isolated Harry over the summer not telling him anything at all. It made him wonder what the headmaster was hiding. Where he could find that information was something he'd have to discuss with Hermione at a later time...

Finally having something pleasant to think on Harry broke out of his introspection with a smile. As ways of waking up went he'd have to admit he preferred this one. Having woken up naked and face down in a four poster bed wasn't that unusual, what made it unusual was the warm weight of his wife cuddling up to his body, her leg thrown across his to trap him in place. An errant thought had him chuckling hard enough that he managed to disturb her slumber.

"Hunh?" she murmured confusedly. "Wazz so funny?"

"I was just wondering if wives are like dragons," Harry chuckled at Hermione's outraged squeak before continuing, "in that they shouldn't be tickled when they're sleeping." The chuckling gave way to a grunt as she dug an elbow into him in her haste to rise. Thinking he'd offended her in some way he span over to attempt to stop her leaving and froze at the sight that met him. He had always thought she was pretty, in the way that a young boy might admit to it. In fourth year he'd decided that she was beautiful when she'd come down prepared for the Yule ball. Now, well now he thought she was breathtaking, he'd never seen her hair in such disarray before, so wild and untamed. The way her sleepy eyes surveyed him was so sexy he was trying to retrain himself from taking advantage of her already ravaged lips.

Giving that up as a lost cause Harry smiled at her, "Enquiring minds want to know," was the only warning he gave as his fingers closed on her ribs and began to tickle her mercilessly. Hermione's eyes widened as she read his intentions but didn't have time to react let alone escape. A moment later she was collapsed on his chest trying to squirm away from him in a way that Harry found he enjoyed much more than he did the sound of her unrestrained giggling. His fingers gradually stilled as one stroked the length of her spine and up into her hair so that when he began kissing her she would be exactly where he wanted her, not that she was arguing. His other hand began stroking patterns over her sensitized skin as he deepened the kiss in earnest.

Minutes passed and Hermione finally needed to surface for air, gasping, her heated gaze met Harrys' and flared as she saw the passion in their green depths, a passion she'd never seen before but now knew that if there was a drug in the world made just for her it was right here. This time she initiated the kiss and the world faded away as he became hers, and she his. Later, how much later they neither knew nor cared the two sated lovers finally broke apart.

Harrys' eyes raked across her naked body in admiration before hoarsely whispering, "Damn, you're beautiful!" Unknown to him the small niggling doubt about her femininity died a withering death under the heat of his admiration and she breathed out a contented sigh. If she had her way she'd spend this Sunday in bed just like this snuggled up against her husband, among other things she'd like to be doing. Her stomach had other ideas though, one that was echoed by Harrys' stomach a moment later.

"Looks like we're going to have to get some food," Harry said regretfully.

"Uh-huh. I suppose so, we'll need some of our clothes and somewhere to get ready," she was unsurprised when the room created the requested items. Well not the clothes since she recognised one of her favourite dresses and there was no reason why the room would recreate Harrys' hand-me downs. It was a pity the room couldn't do something about that she thought, but then nothing the room created could leave its confines. The thought of what would happen to Harry if he tried to leave with something from the room was rather intriguing, but knowing his luck half of Slytherin would be walking past just as the clothes vanished. One thing she knew for certain as she stepped under the shower water and was joined a moment later by Harry was that the clothes situation couldn't be allowed to continue and it was something they were going to rectify at their earliest convenience.

The shower took at least three times as long as was normal for Hermione, not that she minded, it was a highly sensual experience as Harry soaped her body, one that she hadn't been willing to forestall. Nor had she minded that he'd allowed her to return the favour before he'd melted every bone in her body when he'd slowly massaged the shampoo she favoured into her scalp. It wasn't the most blissful feeling he'd instilled in her in the last twenty-four hours but it was pretty close. She decided wickedly that his fingers were very nearly as magical as his wand and snickered at the intentional double entendre. She was almost purring like Crookshanks and could understand the part kneazles dissatisfaction when she stopped petting him when Harry finished washing her hair.

The smacking sound of his hand against her wet bum had her awake in an instant, and extremely indignant. No one should have to go from blissful to outrage in the space of a second and she swore that he was going to pay for that later.

"We'd better finish getting ready if we want to make it out of this room sometime today."

She wasn't sure that that was a bad thing but decided to humour him, besides she really was hungry. Wrapping a towel around herself she allowed herself to be led back to the bed where their clothes were. Ten minutes she'd been drying her hair when she felt Harrys' lips against the nape of her neck.

"I'll see you in a little while," he smiled as he watched her hair drying efforts falter.

"That is so unfair Harry," she complained about the fact that he was already to leave when she'd barely began to get prepared for the day.

"I could magic it dry for you," he offered.

"Don't you dare, I look like I stuck my finger in a plug socket if I try to use magic on it like that," she glared at him as he chuckled at the image.

"Alright, alright, I won't. I could stay with you while you get ready."

"Don't be silly, I'll be another twenty minutes at least. You go on ahead, it'll look less suspicious if we arrive separately in any case." It was one of the decisions they'd made that they would try to keep their changed status a secret as long as they could simply because it gave them room to move if people weren't prepared for the new freedom they had.

"Alright, if you're sure. I'll meet you down there," Harry said as he started towards the door. Changing his mind he turned around and walked back and leant down, kissing her hard he quickly rose.

"That's better. I'll see you in a while," he said as he once more walked away this time leaving a smiling Hermione in his wake. She could get used to this, and if she had any say in the matter she'd have the rest of their very long lives to do so. As the door closed she sighed contentedly, who could ever have imagined she could feel this happy. She'd hoped, but hadn't been sure that they could be happy together, but then she would have been happy anyway since she'd still be with the man she loved. Loved? Yes, before she'd had a little doubt as she had no real knowledge of love other than that of her parents and that was a different kind of love. The kind of love shared between man and woman wasn't something she could learn from a book, it was physical, it was emotional, if she was feeling particularly sappy, which she was at the moment, she'd say it was spiritual. These weren't things that could be felt from the pages of a book. Vicarious, definitely wasn't good enough when it came to what she felt for Harry. She'd been pretty sure she felt this kind of love for him for quite a while, but she'd not known how to take that next step to see if what she felt was real and if there was any possibility of him returning it.

There was the rub, the fear she'd felt that he didn't, couldn't feel the same way about her. She'd nearly done herself a great disservice and settled for a distant second best. Hell, she'd admit that Ron wasn't even second best, the way he acted around her he was only just slightly better than Malfoy at times. She would have found someone eventually but there would always be that niggling doubt in the back of her mind, a lingering 'What if,' that would have damaged any future relationships she might have had. Luckily that was no longer a problem, she wouldn't have to settle for anyone as she had the person she wanted, no needed to feel complete.

Acknowledging that she was married was going to cause even more problems though. People had had a hard enough time thinking that she was dating Harry during their fourth year, well to be honest it might have had more to do with the fact that Rita Skeeter had twisted everything that happened into the most noxious tale that evil woman could come up with. In a sense Hermione could admire the talent the woman possessed to tell a tale, to give bare bone truths and twist it into something completely different. That didn't mean that she appreciated being on the receiving end of it though. She wondered how the hopeful witches would take the fact that Harry was now married and off of the market. Some of them appeared to be fanatical enough to consider murder, they'd certainly resorted to some underhanded tactics when sending her hate mail before. Not that she would fall for those same traps anymore, she'd learned many detection spells since that time and nothing much could get past her. That didn't mean they couldn't but it would be a rare occurrence when it did.

She'd deal with that scenario when the time came and she was pretty sure that Harry would make his displeasure felt if things went too far, and with the way he was feeling after the loss of his Godfather she wasn't sure that 'Too far' was very far at all.

Having finished with her hair while she ruminated on the complex situation she found herself in she rose from the bed and dropped the towel she'd wrapped her body in in preparation of getting dressed when she felt a draught. Looking over her shoulder she could see that the door to the room was opening but there didn't seem to be anyone there. She didn't have any time to react before there was a flash of blue light followed by red and then yellow. She didn't see what happened after that as she was diving for her wand, rolling over the bed she came off the other side and crouched behind a wall the room provided. The bed behind her disappeared into the floor leaving her clothes behind as she peered at the door to see what was happening.

/ Harry \

Stepping out of the room Harry was preoccupied with thoughts of the night before and what it would mean for his, no their futures. He didn't have a clue what he was doing, or what he should do since he didn't have the best role-models when it came to marriage or family life for that matter. The one thing that was clear to him was that he needed to protect her, she had always been special to him, even if his feelings had only just become clear to him. He knew that he'd felt this way for a while, he just hadn't been able to label it. He'd thought what he felt for Cho Chang had been love but now, now he knew it was barely even a crush. That was a mere candle before the inferno of emotion he felt for Hermione.

Having lived an interesting life it would have only been surprising if Harry hadn't gained a sixth sense for when he was being watched with hostile intent. Since he had, his steps slowed until he was stationary as if a thought had suddenly struck him, he tried to look thoughtful as he surveyed the corridor in front of him looking for something out of place. He couldn't see anything but knew that that didn't mean much with magic. He could name four separate methods to become invisible and knew that there were probably others that he didn't know of. Something he did know was that there were a couple of creatures that could get close to him at any point, though it didn't feel like any of the house-elves he knew of. It didn't discount the possibility but it made it less likely. There was only one way to be sure though.

"Dobby?" he called out before whispering, "Appear behind me please."

"Master Harry Potter sir is calling Dobby?" the ecstatic elf cried as he appeared after a soft popping sound. This was the first time Harry had called him since last year and Dobby did so love to work for Harry that any chance was to be grasped with both hands.

Harry who'd turned around to face the elf was busy examining every inch of the corridor behind the elf even while he spoke.

"Er, yeah Dobby…I've got something for you to do. Can you help me?" Harry asked.

"Master Harry Potter is only needing to ask. Dobby is helping anyway he cans!"

"That's great Dobby," Harry stopped speaking for a moment when he noted a tingling sensation in the back of his head. Swinging around thinking he'd been cursed or something he looked around frantically before he noted the look on the little elves face, "Dobby?"

"Dobby is being a bad elves he is. He's knowing he is supposed to being free but he forgets that Master Harry is different now. He is forgetting Harry is of age."

Harry could tell that the elf was preparing to punish himself in some way so grabbed the small elves shoulder to hold him in place before he could head for the nearest wall to bash his head in, or whatever else the elf could think of.

"I don't know what just happened Dobby so why don't you explain? And I thought we covered you punishing yourself?" he felt kind of bad when he watched the elves ears droop even further.

"Oh, Dobby is such a bad elf. He is doing something really bad!!"

"Let me be the judge of that Dobby. So why don't you explain to me why my being an adult is bad," he asked.

"Master Harry Potter sir being an adult is not being bad, it is that Dobby is forgetting. Dobby is being so used to saying 'Master Harry Potter' this or 'Master Harry Potter sir' that, that he is forgetting nots to be doing that when Harry is being an adult!" the elf wailed. Harry knowing that this, whatever it was needed to be resolved or the elf would find a way to punish himself as soon as Harry couldn't see him. The feeling of being watched hadn't gone away but whoever it was didn't seem to be doing anything to attack him so that could wait for a moment. He'd still keep an eye out for it but Dobby was more important. He palmed his wand slowly as he knelt so that he was eye to eye with the elf.

"Why can't you say that when I'm an adult?"

"Because Dobby is supposed to being a free elf!"

"And you calling me Master Harry Potter sir, changed that?" Harry asked carefully.

"Yes! Master Harry Potter sir isn't saying to Dobby, 'Dobby you is not my elf'. Dobby missed it, he shoulds be knowing better, but then he is saying Master Harry Potter sir again and you is not saying Dobby is not you'se elf. Dobby is not a free elvses anymore. Dobby is Master Harry Potters elf now."

To say Harry was gobsmacked would be an understatement, something like this could only happen to him. A second thought occurred to him hot on the heels of that, "Oh crap! Hermione's going to kill me."

Thinking of his wife had him looking at the room of requirement as if he feared the wrath of Granger was about to be visited upon him. It took a second for him to realize what he was seeing….

/ Gryffindor common room \

He'd been waiting in the common room for a good hour, knowing that Harry hadn't returned to the dormitory last night. Eventually he'd come back and then they could go down to breakfast together. They might even wait for Hermione if they could send someone up to get her. She hadn't come down yet, she was probably stuck in some boring book about something no one really cared about and wouldn't want to come with them anyway. Besides he was hungry and while he'd wait for his bast mate there was no real need to wait for a girl. They took forever to get ready and he'd already been waiting long enough, he was starving.

The sense of martyrdom in the common room would have been enough to earn Ronald Billius Weasley a sainthood if anyone in the wizarding world followed the Christian religion. He'd never admit it to anyone but he'd been feeling rather put upon just recently. It felt like Hermione was avoiding him since the summerholidays, but that was ridiculous, he was about to ask her to be his girlfriend and he couldn't foresee any reason why she'd be avoiding him. She should be grateful really that someone was willing to treat her right, she wasn't exactly the prettiest girl in the school, even if she did have her moments.

Harry wouldn't be any problem either since Ron had been making his interest clear for months now and Harry hadn't done anything to counter the claim so Ron felt that his friend had endorsed him starting a relationship with the bushy haired witch. All that hard work he'd done over the last year or so was about to be rewarded. He'd put up with the know-it-all trying to shove her opinions down his throat for four years. She'd finally given up trying to share all that useless stuff and they had a chance now of being boyfriend and girlfriend now that he didn't have to deal with that.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the portrait open and was about to shout out to his mate and ask where he'd been when he noted the red hair of his younger sister. That was strange, no one would be spending their day inside if they could be outside playing Quidditch or at least spending some of the last warm days of the year outside in what passed for sun this far north.

"What are you doing sitting here alone Ron. I thought you'd be outside by now," Ginny asked, while she stopped herself on commenting on how much food he'd have consumed before he stirred himself to leave the great hall. It was lucky he was growing upwards so fast, because if he ever stopped growing taller then he was going to start growing outwards just as fast. By time he was thirty she suspected he'd be one of the best goalies in the Quidditch leagues. Not due to skill, but because he'd be able to cover all three rings without moving. Nimbus might have to design a heavy lifter broom for him but yeah, she could see it. With his fat arse up there his cherished cannons might even stand a chance of winning a game, she wouldn't lay money on it but they'd have a chance at least she thought as she smirked.

"Yeah, well I'll get there. I was just waiting for Harry to get back, dunno where he went last night but he didn't sleep in the dorms," Ron answered.

"Oh, Harry wasn't here last night either?" Ginny asked with a sinking feeling. She'd finally gotten over her crush and was ready to face Harry the man instead of Harry the 'Boy Who Lived' and it was probably too late. Unlike many other people she had always had her suspicions about Hermiones' feeling for Harry and it seemed they were being born out.

"What'd you mean either?" Ron queried.

"I just overheard Parvati and Lavender gossiping about Hermione, seems she didn't spend the night in the dormitories either…" she trailed off as she watched the colour drain from Ron's face and if she were any judge of a situation she'd have thought there was a rather large spider resting just beyond his nose he looked so scared. Before she could ask what was wrong with him, even if she suspected she didn't think he was grown up enough to actually be looking at girls as anything other than friends. Hell she suspected he still thought girls would give him cooties, he was out of the common room and heading for his dorm.

Not even bothering to look around he reached the trunk and flung open the lid and noted that the invisibility cloak was missing. Breathing a sigh of relief he found what he was looking for, the piece of parchment that had gotten them into and out of so much trouble over the years. Pulling it out he yelled the activation phrase and began a frantic search for Harry or Hermione.

Unknown to him his sister had followed him up to the dorm.

"Come on...Come on, where are you?" Ron called urgently as he pored over the map looking for any signs of the two.

Ginny was watching her brother carefully, if she was any judge he was looking at the Marauders map, which she was pretty sure belonged to Harry. That meant that the open trunk belonged to Harry as well and by dint of its location then the bed must be his as well. Normally she'd have berated her brother for borrowing things without asking but her brain had locked on the fact that she was looking at Harrys' bed and if nothing changed then this was as close as she'd ever get.

"They're not on here! Wait, where else could they…of course!" he exclaimed as he dashed out of the room leaving Ginny behind with her thoughts. He knew of only two places that the map couldn't reach and of those two he'd never take anyone he intended to shag to the Chamber of Secrets, unless he was trying to impress them with his bravery and the fact that he'd taken down Professor Lockhart. He'd carefully not mention the bit about his broken wand being responsible, or the fact that the man couldn't defend himself against a determined sheep if his life depended on it.

While Ron was heading towards the Room of Requirements, Ginnys' mind was heading from 'never' to 'when' in regards to Harrys' availability and what she'd have to do to ensure it. She didn't think compulsions would work, she remembered her brother saying something about Harry being able to throw off an imperious curse and that was the strongest compulsion ever created. If he could beat that she'd have to look carefully into either affecting Hermione or manufacturing a situation that could be misconstrued…the fragile girls ego would never survive that and…yeah, that would work.

Ginny touched the bed brushing her fingers over the quilt before trailing her fingers towards the end and walking towards the door with a content smile on her face.

/ Seventh floor corridor \

Harry watched as the door to the room of requirement opened seemingly of its own accord. He waited for Hermione to step out but that didn't happen, it was then that he saw a slight blur of motion and recognised that someone was disillusioned and entering the room.

Ron reached the seventh floor out of breath to find everything quiet, just as it should be. There was no door apparent which as far as he knew meant that there was no one in the room. He'd have to make sure of that though, pacing back and forth in front of the room thinking of the kind of room he wanted to appear, after he'd gone and back several times with no reaction he frowned. It seemed the room was in use and was also hiding the fact, something that shouldn't surprise him since it had done the same thing last year to hide it from the inquisitorial squad. If they hadn't been betrayed by that Ravenclaw they'd never have been found. His frown deepened again as he thought about what they could be doing to still be in the room at nearly midday, it'd be lunch very shortly for Merlins sake. It gave him a little hope really since everything he'd learned told him that shagging didn't take that long so they must be training or something.

Yeah, that was it, they were training because everyone knew Voldemort was back and Harry would have to face him sooner or later. The only problem with that theory was the question of why they hadn't brought him along. They were a team weren't they? They'd faced everything from Trolls to Voldemort together, it didn't make sense that they'd exclude him now. It was obvious to Ron that whatever they'd been doing last night must have tired them out enough that they didn't want to walk back to Gryffindor tower and he didn't even suspect how close to the truth he'd come.

Knowing that there was no way to enter the room if he couldn't make the door appear, well not without trying to destroy a section of wall within Hogwarts, which he was pretty sure would get him more than a detention, he sat back into a similar position to what Harry had done while waiting for Hermione the night before though this time the boy was watching where he knew the room to be.

He might have given himself a good reason why they were in the room but as the minutes slowly ticked past and turned into an hour Ron found his temper rising once more. He was just about reaching the end of his tether and attack the wall regardless of consequences, he'd be buggered if he could figure out just what the hell they could be taking that much time to do that didn't include him, when the door appeared as it swung open revealing Harry.

Ron couldn't tell at this distance but he thought there was something different about his mate, something about the way he moved. He looked confident as he began walking away from him, and was he whistling? Ron wouldn't have recognised Louie Armstrongs 'Wonderful world' even if he heard the original singer but he could tell it was a cheerful tune and wondered what had caused that. Training wouldn't do that, not once after a DA meeting had Ron felt like whistling so it didn't take more than a moment for his temper to flare again as he went back to his initial suspicion. He was glaring holes in his 'friends' back, he wanted so badly to go out there and flatten the bastard for betraying the 'code' even after Ron had spelled it out plainly for him.

His anger froze several seconds after Harry did, the sable haired youth simply stopped moving and stood completely still. Ron nearly panicked as his breath stilled hoping he hadn't been found out spying on Harry, wanting to smack his friend out was one thing, actually being able to do it was another. It was a rare occurrence for Ron to admit he wasn't as powerful a wizard as Harry but when it came to pure combat he doubted any student in the school could take Harry down. He was just too fast and as for his spell casting it was frightening how fast he could get spells to leave his wand. Deciding that he was too exposed to stay where he was without being found Ron tried the disillusionment spell and was a little surprised when it appeared to work.

Dobby's appearance was a bit of a surprise and he watched amused as Harry tried to calm the distraught elf down. Even though Harry was facing towards him he felt that his spell was good enough that he could move out of his cover if he was careful. He was going to try to get to a safer spot when the opportunity he didn't even know he was looking for occurred to him, he was invisible, Harry couldn't see him and he was distracted. He could find out what was going on in the room of requirement and put the whole thing to rest. Moving slowly he inched towards the door keeping an eye on Harry and the elf, it took a minute to cover less than fifteen metres but he'd done it, his charm must have been better than he thought. Standing as still as possible he grasped the door handle and began to pull, the door silently swung open several inches and what he could see through the gap caused him to freeze completely as the door continued to swing open now that he was no longer holding onto it.

Hermione…His blood began to boil as he watched the towel wrapped around her fall to the ground, unfortunately she was facing the wrong way so all he could see was a small sliver of naked skin, the bed covered everything below her waist and her mass of hair covered everything else. He was just processing the presence of a bed beside his naked friend when he felt something wrap around him, 'Bloody hell', some kind of binding curse had just hit him. He didn't have time to think about that though as Harrys' expelliarmus hit him and ripped the wand from his hand, a second later a bludgeoner of some description hit him and pushed him hard into the door frame causing something in his right side to give way with a sickening crack.

Harry heard the crack as something on his adversary was broken, he'd have felt some kind of remorse if he hadn't believed Hermione was in danger. The only person he could think of that would sneak around him and his friends was Malfoy and if it was Malfoy then he'd gotten exactly what he deserved he thought grimly.

"I got him Hermione," he said before he came level with the open door. The sight of Hermione crouched behind a wall peering in his direction.

"Harry?"

"I'm not sure, I felt someone watching me and I stopped to find out who it was. Didn't want to risk you stepping out into a Malfoy ambush."

"So it's Draco?"

"Don't know, he's disillusioned. If he hadn't tried to open the door I don't think I would have known he was even there. Finite Incantatum," Harry cast the spell extinguisher at the shimmering space that was wrapped in thick cords.

"Fuck!"

"Harry!" Hermione objected to his language before she got a good look at who had been revealed. "Oh crap," it was one of those occasions when swearing seemed appropriate. There was a difference between disliking someone and actually hating them enough to want to see them hurt. Malfoy…well she wouldn't have batted an eyelid if it had been the 'Amazing bouncing ferret' but Ron?

"We've got to get him to the infirmary," she shouted as she stood up.

"Um, tell you what Hermione," Harry smiled while his eyes travelled up and down her body, "You put some clothes on and I'll take the prat to see Madame Pomphrey."

"Eeep!"

Harry dragged Ron away from the door so that he could close it and give Hermione a little privacy, though he wasn't sure if he'd have to try and obliviate Ron now. Maybe it'd be quicker and safer to have him have an accident, easier to explain than a botched obliviation. Thinking of how Lockhart had turned out, Harry grinned at the thought. The arsehole deserved it, and was lucky in Harrys' opinion that he'd wiped his own mind because he was pretty sure he'd have gotten worse than that if the Ministry became aware of what he'd done to the rightful heroes. Ron didn't have that hanging over his head though, he'd been a prat and was proving himself to be an even bigger prat with his latest actions but…he'd think on it.

"Mobillicorpus," he incanted as he pointed his wand at the stationary form of his unconscious 'friend' and began heading towards the hospital four floors below. This was going to be hard to explain to the medi-witch, he didn't know how this could get any worse.

As he reached the seventh floor landing he looked down and winced, well he did ask…

/ To be continued… \

A/N:- I'm going to say right here and now, this is the way I see the characters. I can see them doing things like this given the situations they find themselves in. Though Harry is probably a bit more open to emotions than normally would be, I know because I was raised with similar levels of emotional abuse. I survived six years in my own personal Durzkaban and a year in the childrens home I was moved to for my own protection. I know what I'd do if someone like Hermione entered into a relationship with me like that.

Ginny is tailored off of her mother who we know wasn't above using potions to get the person she was attracted to. Question, if she had a choice of getting anyone with a potion, why Arthur Weasley? I mean, come on…she couldn't do better? Nothing against Arthur, seriously nice guy, but…addled much? Poor? Not exactly a cover model for Playwitch either. So why him when she had the rest of the school to prey on and a will to use potions to get what she wanted. Just a thought. At least Ginny has good taste, Harrys' everything Arthur's not. He's rich, famous, has political clout even if he doesn't know it. He's a nice person with a serious saving people thing.

Ron, well Ron is jealous. We've all seen it…you can't hide it, it's in black and white in many different books. In the seventh book we see him abandon his friends because of the fear they'll abandon him. So I fit this version of Ron into that mould, he lashes out because he fears they're going to leave him behind thus guaranteeing that they will want to leave him behind.

Who had made Harrys' day complete? Well you'll have to wait and see in the next chapter.


End file.
